A senior tax figure and campaigner for those in the lower income tax bracket has criticised the latest debate by MPs on tax avoidance issues involving multinational companies such as Starbucks, Google and Amazon, saying they were 'filled with heat and very little light'.

Referring to a debate which took place in the Commons, John Andrews - member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and founder of the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) - used his acceptance speech for an award honouring his role as a campaigner, to comment on Monday's debate.

The debate saw MP Ian Swales take up the issue of avoidance among multinationals.

'The idea that large companies see their tax payments as voluntary, or as some kind of contribution they feel like making, is completely out of order,' Swales had said.

But Andrews slammed the debate, saying: 'Other parts contained a distinct lack of facts, accompanied by impossible dreams, misunderstandings and many unsupported assertions.'

Andrews continued: 'This reminded me of a report in the US press last year - credit here to Rex Huppke of the Chicago Tribune - which made Facts into a mythical person and then criticised US politicians for killing Facts... This made me think that some tax debates may have pushed our equivalent of the mythical person, Facts, to an early grave here in the UK.'

Praising Andrews for his hard work as a campaigner for the disadvantaged, CIOT president Patrick Stevens said: 'This award is truly well deserved. As founder and chairman of the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, John has been a powerful champion of the unrepresented on tax and tax credit issues for many years.'

Anthony Thomas has taken over Andrews' position as chairman of LITRG.